Time Changes Everything
by LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict
Summary: Stevie/Alex at the end of season 5 with a different ending to the season
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, they belong to Posie Graeme-Evans and Nine Network. The story apart from some snippets taken from the show is my property and shall not be taken nor posted somewhere else without my permission. **

**This story is mainly going to be Stevie/Alex with some appearances of other characters. It starts at the end of the last episode of season 5, though continues differently than it does on the show. **

**ENJOY!  
**

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 1**

"Tess? Tess?" Tess woke up with a start … "Sorry to wake you mate." he apologized and sat down next to her hugging the six pack of beer close to his chest.

"What's up?"

"Stevie…" he stared in front of him. "Can you spare her for an hour?"

"Sure."

"Cool… Thanks." he nodded towards Tess and got up, while Tess watched him walk wondering what that was all about.

Stevie picked up some wire from the shed shouldering it.

"Hey cowgirl!"

"Whoa." Stevie turned around startled.

"You need a hand?" Alex offered smiling coming closer.

"Ah, no, I'm alright." Stevie told him picking up the toolbox.

"I don't mind, hey?"

"Oh no, it's under control. I just got a few running repairs to do." she told him walking towards her ute, while Alex tagged along next to her.

"Listen, can I tempt you to a good old Harry slugging match?"

"Did you have a fight with him?"

"Yeah, one of our best. Come on, we'll have a drink, talk about it."

Stevie thought about it for a second "Ahh, no, maybe later, hey?" she declined and quickly walked away leaving Alex behind.

"Okay." he simply replied looking after her disappearing figure.

Alex made a start towards his car but then decided against it and walked back towards the homestead. Tess still sat on the porch, obviously deep in thoughts. She cast her thoughts back to the present reality though when she saw Alex coming closer, out of the corner of her eye.

"Did you find Stevie?"

"Uhm, yeah, but she had too much to do", Alex told her still thinking of Stevie's reaction to his beer proposal a couple of minutes ago.

Tess watched his absent-minded look for a few seconds, "Everything alright?"

Alex focused back on his sister-in-law. "Yeah, sure", he told her, trying to disguise his restlessness.

"That doesn't sound very convincing…" Tess sat up and patted the seat next to her.

"Nah, it's nothing. I just had a fight with Harry, but that's no news, hey? I'm just gonna…" Alex pointed in the direction of his car, already making a move to leave.

"You know, you can talk to me as well. Might not be the same as with Stevie, but I'm a pretty good listener, too."

Alex shook his head. "No, really. I don't wanna bother you with my stupid Harry problems."

Tess now stood up and walked towards him. "I'm sure they're not stupid, otherwise you wouldn't be looking for someone to kill these with," Tess pointed to the six pack of beers he was still holding close to his chest. "Come on, I'll make us a cuppa and you can tell me what's going on", she took him by the arm and led him inside, giving him a look that was caring but also told him to stop arguing.

Alex sat down at the head of the kitchen table, his back facing the refrigerator. Tess put a cup on the table for each of them and went to get some biscuits out of the pantry before she sat down as well.

"Soo... what did you wanna talk about to Stevie? You said you had a fight with Harry?"

Alex took a sip of his tea and just nodded in agreement to her question.

"What was the fight about?" she asked him when he didn't say anything else.

"Tess, I... I really don't wanna bothe...."

"Don't finish that sentence Alex. I'm not made of porcelain.

"I know it's just that..."

Suddenly it dawned to Tess why he was being so hesitant.

"Was it something about Nick?"

Alex's silence was more than enough of an answer for her.

"Tess took a deep breath. She leaned forward a bit and softly put her hand over his.

"It's okay, I can take it."

Alex, who had been staring at his cup in front of him, looked up into her gentle eyes. Taking an encouraging breath he squeezed her hand and started to talk. "A couple of days ago, at the... at Nick's... you know..." he didn't remember what Tess had titled the gathering, and didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying the wrong thing.

Tess nodded, indicating that she knew what he meant.

"Well, I was gonna go have a beer with the old man and so I followed him into the house where he was putting Harrison down for a nap... I heard him say something to Harrison."

Tess just waited for him to continue, giving him the time needed to get whatever was bothering him off his chest. She knew that Alex and Harry had always had a difficult relationship and now that they didn't have Nick as the peacekeeper between them, things tended to get out of hand between them more quickly than they had before.

Alex didn't know how to put it, because he didn't want to hurt Tess's feelings. "He, uhm, he said that he and Harrison, uhm, were the only ones left to carry on the Ryan name, now that Nick is gone." The hurt about Harry's words was clearly audible in Alex's voice and also Tess had to swallow after hearing this from Alex.

"Alex, you know that's not true... you know how Harry is sometimes." Tess tried to console him. "Believe me, he meant it, Tess. I might have the same name but he doesn't see me as his son."

"You know he does...deep down", Tess comfortingly squeezed his arm.

Alex took another sip of his tea. "It's okay. I don't need him. If he doesn't want me there I surely won't force myself into his life."

"Maybe the two of you just need some time apart from each other", Tess suggested to him. "You're always welcome to stay here, for as long as you want." Tess offered him sincerely.

"Thanks, Tess, but I think I'm gonna head to the city for a while", Alex told her.

"For how long?" Tess asked him surprised, she didn't think it was that serious between him and Harry.

"Don't know. A week, maybe a couple. I mean, I don't wanna leave you guys here, with all the... you know..." Alex looked at her belly that was showing the signs of her pregnancy more and more with every passing day.

Tess smiled at him, gently putting a protective hand over her protruding belly. "You wouldn't. You have to promise me something, though".

"Yeah, sure," Alex leaned forward, resting his arms on the kitchen table.

"Don't just disappear. Call in from time to time."

Alex gently touched her arm, giving it a light squeeze. "Of course I will. After all, I need to make sure that you're taking good care of yourself and my future niece of nephew."

Tess let out a deep sigh, "Don't worry, I will."

Alex got up and pulled Tess into a big hug. "Call me if you need me. I'll be back in a flash."

"I will, but don't worry about us. You make sure you clear your head. "I will. Take care of yourself and the bub."

"Sure," she smiled up at him.

"Will you say goodbye to Stevie for me?" he asked her halfway through the kitchen door.

Tess stayed quiet for a few seconds. "I think you should tell her yourself."

Alex shook his head no. "Nah, she doesn't wanna talk to me."

Tess took a step towards him. "Believe me, she'll want to hear it from you." Tess didn't exactly know what was going on with Stevie, but she had a feeling that it had something to do with Alex and knew that she would be devastated if Alex would just leave without saying goodbye to her in person. "Please, just do it for me."

Alex looked a bit confused at his sister-in-law, but didn't say anything else.

He found Stevie by the stables where she had just put Banjo back into his box. Stevie didn't notice Alex coming up behind her and jumped a little, turning around quickly when she heard his voice behind her. "Hey."

"Geez, Alex! You scared me," she scolded him, her hand placed over her quickly beating heart.

"Sorry, mate, didn't mean to... Still busy?" he asked her while walking next to her towards the shed.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 2**

Stevie looked up at him for a second but quickly lowered her eyes again, trying to avoid his gaze. She couldn't bear to look into those deep blue eyes of his. "Uhm, yeah, pretty much. Sorry."

Alex was still perplexed by her behaviour this day. "Listen, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left. I'm going to the city for a while." He stopped for a moment, waiting for her reaction.

Stevie stopped as well and turned around to face him. How long you going for?" she tried to sound as if it wasn't a big deal, but deep down she was starting to get nervous.

"Don't know yet. A week... maybe a month or so... need to get away from Killarney for a while."

Stevie swallowed hard. That wasn't the answer she had expected. The fight with Harry must've been bigger than she had thought.

"So you're running away, hey?" she looked up into his eyes holding his gaze this time.

"What's that supposed to mean now?" Alex looked down at her, his eyes narrow, agitated by her question that sounded more like an accusation to him.

"Nothing," Stevie shrugged her shoulders putting her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "Just that that's what you always do when things get a bit tough with Harry."

Alex was now really getting agitated, raising his voice to her. "Oh, and like you're any better?! How many times have you made a run for it when things got a bit tough around here?"

Stevie was shocked by his words and with how much anger he said them in his voice. "That's real nice, Ryan! Do me a favour and don't take your grudge on Harry out on me!" Stevie yelled at him and rapidly walked in the direction of the windmill.

"Stevie, wait! I'm sorry." Alex yelled after her but Stevie just kept on going.

"Damn it," he said angrily and kicked up some dirt.

Tess had watched their argument from the driveway and walked towards him. "I'll go talk to her. You wait here, okay? Don't leave, alright?" Tess wanted to make sure that he wouldn't just take off like that with the air hanging thick like that between him and Stevie.

"Yeah, yeah," he told her and sat down on the trunk of his ute. He didn't know who he was more angry at, at the moment. Harry for being the usual bastard, Stevie for telling things the way they were, or himself for going off on her like that.

Tess found Stevie sitting on the edge of the bathtub next to the windmill, poking around in the dirt at her feet with a piece of wire.

"What was that all about?" Tess asked walking up to Stevie and sat down next to her.

"Don't know." Stevie just shrugged her shoulders. She realized that Tess wouldn't just let her get away with that answer and let out deep sigh looking at her best friend. "Something's changed."

"Changed how?"

"I don't know. When... when Alex went bush..." Stevie on her bottom lip looking into the open space in front of her and then continued, "I was really scared that something had happened to him, and..." Stevie shook her head and turned towards Tess. "See, when I met I guy it's fireworks, right off the bat. But with Alex..."

"Well, people change..." Tess pointed out to her.

Stevie grinned nervously, "It's so stupid, he's my best mate... wouldn't work.

Tess watched her for a few seconds and smiled knowingly, before asking the ultimate question. "Do you love him?"

"Doesn't matter." Stevie shook her head. "You can love anyone, doesn't mean it'll work out."

"You're scared. That's perfectly natural." Tess replied but Stevie shook her head to her statement.

"No, I'm not scared... I'm just... I'm being realistic."

"I think you should tell him how you feel."

"Ah, no. I can't." Stevie shook her to Tess's suggestion.

"Look, I stuffed around so much with Nick, if I knew back then what I know now..." Tess voice thickened.

"Aww, Tess." Stevie gently touched her friend's knee.

"It's okay. Just promise me you won't wait too long. Just think about it."

Stevie nodded her head and with this Tess left her alone with her thoughts.

Instead of giving the matter anymore thought Stevie had decided that the wind had died down enough for her to fix the windmill and started climbing up the steps of it.

Meanwhile, down in driveway, Alex was still sitting on the back of his ute when Tess came back from her talk with Stevie.

"Go talk to her Alex. You two need to work things out."

"You wanna tell me what's going on with her?" Alex asked her still confused about Stevie's behaviour towards him.

"Sorry, but that's not for me to tell. Just go to her."

"Yeah, ok. Thanks." Alex smiled at her gratefully.

"Anytime," Tess returned his smile and went back towards the house.

_**To be continued... **_

_**(Please review, thanks ;) )  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Please review - thanks ;) _

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 3**

Stevie had reached the top of the windmill by the time when Alex had made it up the hill. Suddenly the wind came up again and turned the blades dangerously close to Stevie, knocking her hat off.

"Stevie, look out!" Alex yelled to her and ran up the rest of the hill, stopping right in front of the windmill.

Surprised by Alex's sudden appearance Stevie look where she was stepping and slipped. She managed to grab the lever of the windmill that had a long chain on it to shut it on or off from the bottom. The second he saw her slip Alex made his way up the ladder of the windmill. "Hold on, I'm right there." He yelled, trying to sound calm even though his heart was pounding in his throat. "Try to get your feet up," he told her but Stevie couldn't get a firm stand without slipping again.

Alex had reached the top and was now climbing to her side avoiding the blades of the windmill that were still rotating above their heads.

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled up towards him with one arm while holding onto the mill with the other. Stevie finally managed to put her feet up and clung to one of the metal bars. "Are you ok?" Alex asked her concerned his grip still firm around her.

"Yeah, as soon as I'm down again, I will be." Stevie told him, her face white as a sheet of paper from the shock of seeing her life pass by just seconds ago.

"Okay, come on. Let's get you down." Alex told her and they slowly climbed to the side of the ladder and then down, with Alex's body protectively around Stevie's.

Stevie immediately sank to the ground when they had reached the bottom. Alex kneeled in front of her and took her face between his hands. "Are you sure, you're ok? Did you hurt your head?" Alex asked her concerned examining her head as he asked her this question.

"Nah, just my ego's a bit scratched, I guess."

"What the hell were you doing up there with the wind like this? Huh?" Alex's concerned turned into slight anger about her stupid behaviour.

"I... I don't know." Stevie said barely audible, a bit shocked by his sudden change of tone. Only now did she realize she had almost killed herself up there. Small tears were forming in her eyes when she realized how lucky she had been that Alex had been there, otherwise things could have gone a lot different up there.

Alex saw her tears and immediately felt sorry for yelling at her. "Shh, it's okay. Come here. I didn't mean to yell at you."

Reluctantly Stevie let herself be drawn into Alex's arms, but as soon as she felt his arms around her body she as well put her arms around his waist hugging him tightly.

Jodi, Kate and Tess, who had witness the horrifying scenes from near the stables, came running up the hill towards Stevie and Alex.

"Oh my god, Stevie are you ok?" Jodi ran to her boss and friend kneeling down next to her.

Stevie wiped away a few tears and nodded her head yes.

"What were you doing up there?" Kate asked her. "The wind is way to strong to fix the windmill at the moment. That was a stupid thing to do."

"She knows," Alex said turning towards the other girls.

"Are you sure, you're alright, Stevie? Should I call the doctor?" Tess asked her concerned wanting to make sure that she really didn't injure herself.

Stevie cleared her throat, "Nah, I'm ok. Really." She told her friends, wiping away a few tears with the sleeve of her jacket and made a move to get up. A little to quickly, she realized when she felt her head spinning, but Alex quickly caught her.

"Come on. Let's get you inside." He said and put his arm supportively around her waist, guiding her down the hill towards the homestead, followed closely behind by the others.

**_To be continued..._**


	4. Chapter 4

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 4**

Inside, he brought her up to her room and sat her down on the bed.

"Look, I'm fine. No need to worry." Stevie tried to assure them, not liking all the fuzz that was made around her.

"Yeah, sure. Lie down, will ya?" Alex told her in a tone that gave no room for any argument.

Stevie grudgingly obeyed and lay down after taking her jacket off, throwing it over the footboard of the bed.

Jodi passed her the glass of water that Kate had just brought from downstairs.

"Thanks," Stevie took a small sip, her hands still trembling a bit, while Tess covered here with a blanket.

"You sure you're okay?" Alex asked her with a concerned voice, still standing next to her bed.

"Yeah, all good. Just felt a bit dizzy up there."  
"Come on you lot. Let's give Stevie some time to rest." Tess spoke up, to which the other girls nodded and followed outside.

"Alex?" Stevie stopped him from following the others. "Listen, I'm sorry that I didn't have time for you before. You know... when you wanted to talk", Stevie told him sincerely.

"Yeah, no worries", Alex shrugged it off.

Neither of them knew exactly what to say at the moment, although both had quite a few things going around in their heads.

"Look, I'm gonna give you some time to rest. I'll see you later, right?" Alex broke the silence.

Again Stevie had the feeling that she couldn't just let him go like that, fearing that she might not see him for a while if he were to leave now. So she stopped him when he turned towards the door to leave. "Alex, what did Harry say to you?" she asked him directly, knowing that she had to put her feelings aside for a moment if she didn't want to take the risk of loosing him.

"You really don't wanna rest, do you?" Alex asked her with his trademark smirk.

"Nah, not really", she smirked back at him. "I serious though, Alex. I'll listen if you still wanna talk", she told him and made some room for him on the bed gesturing to sit down with her.

Alex fiddled with his Akrubra in his hands before he decided to sit down with her. Somehow, she almost always managed for him to open up to her when she looked at him with her gentle and caring eyes. It was something about her that had always told him that he could trust her and tell her things that he hardly told anyone else. It had been like that from the moment he had met her. Even though she seemed like this tough, strong woman, who could definitely survive on her own out there in the world, she also had this soft and vulnerable side to her that only a handful of people close to her were allowed to witness sometimes; and Alex felt definitely honoured that she counted him to that circle of friends.

Stevie sensed that whatever Harry had said to him this time. The way she kept her silence, Alex knew that she would give him all the time he needed to get things off his chest.

And so, eventually, Alex told her about what he had overheard at Nick's celebration ceremony and about the fight he had had with Harry that afternoon. He also told her the part he hadn't mentioned to Tess, where he had found Nick's stuff on the trailer to be thrown out.

Alex's voice had thickened and become quieter when he told her this last part.

"I know he's hurting and we all have to come to terms with it in our own way, but it's like he's trying to wipe out all of Nick's memories, you know? Like he's never existed." Alex looked up into Stevie's eyes, almost breaking her heart when she saw the thin layer of tears that had formed in his eyes.

"Aww, mate..." Stevie herself had a hard time now keeping her voice steady. Leaning forward, she gently placed her hand upon his knee.

Alex gave her a sad but grateful smile, taking a deep breath afterwards.

"Nick's always gonna be with us. In their baby that's gonna be born soon, in Harrison... and in our hearts and our memories. Harry's just trying to find a ways to deal with all of this, just like we all are. Might not be the best way, but that's Harry, I guess. He'll come to terms with it, sooner or later." Stevie gave his knee a light squeeze before placing her hands back in her lap.

"Yeah," Alex squeezed his eyes shut, taking another deep breath to clear his mind a bit. Wanting to change the subject he focused his eyes back on her.

"So, you wanna tell me what's been going on in that head of yours? Not like you to put yourself in danger like that. That was a really stupid thing to do, an' you know it, Stevie."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she looked back down at her hands avoiding his stare.

_**To be continued...**_

_**Please review - thanks ;)  
**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 5**

Stevie didn't say anything else hoping that he wouldn't ask any more questions, but of course he wasn't willing to drop the subject just yet.

"Seriously, what's going on Steves? You've been acting really weird lately. Did I do something to upset you?" Alex was still standing in the woods about her behaviour, and he wouldn't drop the matter until he knew her reasons for that strange behaviour.

"No, it's not that," she reassured him.

"Then what is it, mate?"

Stevie knew that she couldn't get out of this, she had to tell him. Now or never.

"You need to promise me something first though, before I tell you."

Alex looked at her questioningly. "Okay... what?"

"You need to promise me to forget we ever had this conversation if you... if you can't relate to what I'm gonna tell you."

Alex was more than confused now, but nodded approvingly. "Yeah...okay."

Stevie closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to gather up all the courage she had within her.

"Good, cause our friendship is more important to me than this... I think", she added quickly.

"Just tell me, would ya?" Alex had to grin at her.

"Right. Well, you know when we talked at Tess and Nick's hens and bucks party, right? When you said that you thought that men and women can't be friends because they only want one thing from one another. And I said, I couldn't be with a guy without being friends first, right?"

"Yeaah..." Alex just answered getting a slightly clearer idea of what this was about.

"Well, see ... the thing is..." Stevie paused for a second and looked up into his eyes. So far he didn't look like he was gonna make a run for it, so she decided to continue. She didn't dare to look into his eyes anymore and cast her glance at her fidgeting hands in her lap when she went on. "Look, you're my best mate, Alex, and we've been through so much. And I... I really don't wanna loose you as a mate, though... the thing is... I don't think I just wanna be mates..."

The silence following her revelation to him made the butterflies in her stomach clench together almost making her sick. "But, as I said, if you don't feel the same way, I guess it's best you just forget I ever said something." Stevie still didn't have the courage to look up into his eyes. To her, his silence was enough of an answer.

"Look, I'm... I'm feeling much better, so... I'm just gonna go back to work..." she quickly said and made a move to get up from the bed, but Alex's hand on her arm stopped her. For the first time now, she had the guts to look into his eyes, though she didn't couldn't exactly figure out what she saw in them.

"You can't just drop a bombshell on a bloke like that and just take off and leave." Alex told her.

"Well, what's the point of staying if he doesn't feel the same..." Stevie's voice was quiet, full of uncertainty. She was starting to wish she had just kept her big mouth shut.

All of a sudden she felt Alex pull her closer, feeling his lips on her hers right after. She was so surprised by his actions that she couldn't react to the kiss in anyway. Alex pulled away and gently stroked his thumb over her cheek. "Who says I don't..." he told her when she had opened her eyes again.

"You...you do?" she asked him still in disbelieve, her voice breaking and her throat suddenly feeling very dry.

_**To be continued ...**_

_**Please review - thanks ;)  
**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Time Changes Everything – Chapter 6 **

Alex leaned forward and captured her lips between his again. This time, the reality of the situation made her react to the kiss and she eagerly parted her lips when she felt the tip of his tongue asking for entrance. A lack of air eventually let them break apart; His hand still delicately placed on her cheeks, Alex softly rested his forehead against her. "That enough of an answer, cowgirl?"

Stevie's expression turned into a big smile, "Yes!" she almost yelled out and threw her arms around his neck, embracing him in a big hug.

Alex had to laugh at her reaction, "I thought you'd never make up your mind," he told her with a smirk.

Stevie pulled back a bit, so that she was able to look into his eyes. "Wait... you knew?" She asked him stunned.

"Well, I didn't exactly know, I just ... had a feeling."

"Why didn't you say something, then?"

Alex gently put a stray of her red curls, which had fallen into her face, behind her ear. "I guess, we both needed some time to sort out our feelings first," he replied, his expression turning more serious now, when he thought back to the events before their talk that night.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I guess, you're right about that," Stevie agreed, thinking back to the chaos with Kane.

"Main thing is, we know how we feel now." Alex stated.

"True. I guess that's the main thing," Stevie smiled at him and leaned forward for another kiss.

-----

Tess, Kate and Jodi where standing in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"Is Alex still up there? Should we bring them something up to eat?" Kate wanted to know.

"Nah, they'll be right. They'll come down if they get hungry, Stevie knows when dinner is on. They need to figure some things out first." Tess told the other girls.

Jodi immediately stopped chopping the carrots in front of her and took a step closer to Tess lowering her voice. "Why do you know something? Is something going on between them?"

Jodi's question also made Kate step closer but Tess just shrugged her shoulders. "All I know is that they had a fight before the accident and still need to sort things out. But that's none of our business," Tess told them with a look that did not allow further questions.

Kate and Jodi looked a little disappointed at each other before going back to their tasks.

---

Stevie and Alex had made themselves a bit more comfortable on Stevie's bed by now. Stevie was resting against Alex's side, her head comfortably placed on his chest, while Alex was gently brushing his fingertips up and down her arm.

"Steves?" Alex broke their comfortable silence.

"Mhmm," Steve only murmured into his chest, her eyes still closed.

"When did you... you know... how long have you... uhm...".

"How long have I known?" Stevie finished his question, looking up into his eyes.

"Yeah."

She moved up a bit, leaning back on her arm so that she was able to face him and placed her other hand on his chest. "I don't know. I mean, something felt different after our... you know..."

Now it was Alex, who finished her sentence for her, a small smile playing in the corner of his lips. "After our kiss."

"Yeah," Stevie smiled up at him. "But I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself back then. And then when you went bush a few weeks back... I was so scared that ... that I was gonna loose you. That something bad had happened to you..." Stevie lowered her head when a few tears started to form in her eyes thinking back to that time.

"Hey," Alex softly touched her cheek making her look up into his gentle eyes. "It's okay. I'm here now." He told her and brushed away a single tear. To underline his words he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"Yes, you are." Stevie replied through her tears, returning the kiss.

"Alex, what are you gonna do now?" She asked him pulling back a little.

Alex just looked at her questioningly.

"What , uhm, what are your plans now? Are you gonna go to the city?" she wanted to know of him, silently praying that he would say no.

Alex let out a deep sigh. "Uhm, I don't know, to be honest. I could really use a bit of time off, you know?"

Stevie swallowed hard. "Yeah, sure. If that's what you need to do." She couldn't exactly hide her disappointment.

"Hey... I promise I won't be gone for long, okay? I just need to clear my head a bit." He told her with a gentle smile.

Stevie tried to smile back at him but her disappointment about him leaving after she had just spilled out her feelings to him did not exactly give her much reason to smile.

"Yeah, alright." Stevie replied, realising that he had already made up her mind, and maybe this would give her some time to think as well. Within the last half hour her life had made a significant turn and she still needed to wrap her head around that a bit.

Alex suddenly got up of the bed and pulled Stevie up with him.

"You're leaving now?" she asked him surprised.

"The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll be back." He told her bending down to kiss her shortly.

Stevie was still a bit perplexed about his sudden actions, almost seeming to her as if he couldn't get away fast enough now.

"Well, I guess I'll see you to your car then, hey?"

"Yeah, thanks," and with that Alex took her hand and pulled her out of her room and down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs they were greeted by Tess who was bringing the last plate of food into the dining room.

"Hey, you two. Didn't expect to see you down here for a while. Are you gonna have dinner with the rest of us?"

"Ah, no thanks," Alex denied. "I'm gonna head off for a while. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah sure," Tess replied looking at Stevie who just shrugged her shoulders at her friend's questioningly look and then followed Alex outside to his car.

"Alex, could you just wait for a second?" she yelled after him, making him stop and turn a few feet away from his car.

"What's going on here?" She asked him utterly confused about his behaviour. "You haven't changed your mind have you?" she wanted to know hardly getting out the words, not daring to look into his eyes.

Alex saw her sad look and took a step closer to her wrapping her arms around her body. He bent his knees a bit so that he was able to look into her eyes when she didn't look up at him. Placing his hand gently on her cheek Alex made her to look at him, "Listen, if there is one thing I'm sure about, it's my feelings for you. You have to believe me about that Stevie. Okay? I want us to be together, really, I do. You mean the world to me cowgirl!" He told her sincerely, making a smile form on her lips by calling her that.

To emphasize his words even more Alex captured her lips in a long and sensual kiss, making her legs go weak under her body. When they eventually had to come up for air Alex pulled her into a tight hug and whispered into her ear, "see ya soon, cowgirl."

Stevie looked into his eyes and gently placed her hand on his right cheek. "See you soon, Cowboy," she smiled at him and placed another soft kiss on his lips.

With that Alex turned around and opened the door of his car.

"Alex?" Stevie stopped him, making him turn around again. She hesitated for a moment before she continued, "hurry back."

Alex put on his trademark smile, making her smile at him in return, "I will." And so he got into his car and drove out of the driveway towards the front gate.

Stevie watched his car for a while and nearly jumped when Tess suddenly stood beside her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Everything okay, Steves?"

_**To be continued...**_

_**Please review - Thanks ;)  
**_


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